Customer Relationship Management Initiative Research Articles

The Adoption of CRM Initiative among Palestinian Enterprises: A Proposed Framework

Aim/Purpose: This study aimed to examine the relationships among compatibility, relative advantage, complexity, IT Infrastructure, security, top Management Support, financial Support, information Policies, employee engagement, customer pressure, competitive pressure, information integrity, information sharing, attitude toward adopting technology factors, and CRM adoption Background: Customer relationship management (CRM) refers to the use of the process, information, technology, and people for the management of the interactions between the organization and its customers. Therefore, there is a need for SMEs to implement CRM practices in their businesses for competitive advantage. However, in developing nations, the adoption rate of such practices remains low. This low rate may be attributed to the lack of important factors that guide CRM adoption, and as such, the present study attempts to investigate the factors affecting CRM adoption in Palestinian SMEs. This paper used the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI), Resource-Based View (RBV), and Technology, Organization, and Environment Framework (TOE) framework to identify the determinant factors from the technological, organizational, environmental, and information culture perspectives. Methodology: This study uses a quantitative approach to investigate the relationships between the variables. A questionnaire was designed to collect data from 420 SMEs in Palestine. 331respondents completed and returned the survey. The Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) approach was used to assess both the measurement and structural models. Contribution: This study contributes to both theory and practitioners by providing insights into factors that affect CRM adoption in Palestinian SMEs, which did not explore before. Future research suggestions are also provided. Findings: The results of the study prove that the adoption of CRM depends on compatibility (CMP), security (SEC), top management support (TMS), information policies (INP), financial resources (FR), employee engagement (EEN), competitive pressure (COP), customers pressure (CUP), attitude toward adopting technology (ATA), information integrity (INI), and information sharing (INS). Surprisingly, complexity (CMX), IT infrastructure (ITI), and relative advantage (RLA) do not play any role in CRM adoption in Palestine. Recommendations for Practitioners: This study provides practitioners with the important factors for CRM adoption upon its successful implementation in the context of Palestinian SMEs. Recommendation for Researchers: Our findings may be used to conduct further studies about compatibility, security, top management support, information policies, financial resources, employee engagement, competitive pressure, customers pressure, attitude toward adopting technology, information integrity, information sharing factors, and CRM adoption by using different countries, procedure, and context. Impact on Society: The proposed framework provides insights for SMEs which have significant effects for research and practice to help facilitate the adoption of CRM Future Research: The findings may also be compared to other studies conducted in different contexts and provide deeper insights into the influence of the examined contexts on the employees’ intention toward CRM adoption in banking and universities. It would be fruitful to test whether the results hold true in developed and developing countries.

A systematic review for the determination and classification of the CRM critical success factors supporting with their metrics

The successful implementation of customer relationship management (CRM) is not easy and seems to be a complex task. Almost about 70% of all CRM implementation projects fail to achieve their expected objectives. Therefore, most researchers and information systems developers concentrate on the critical success factors approach which can enhance the success of CRM implementation and turn the failure and drawbacks faced CRM into successful CRM systems adoption and implementation. In this paper, the number of the previous studies is reviewed to demonstrate the barriers behind this high failure rate. In addition, an extensive review is conducted in order to identify and prioritize the critical success factors (CSFs) that if the organizations are aware of and have knowledge of them properly; they will achieve success and will obtain the expected benefits of their CRM initiative. And then, an extensive CSFs classification is proposed. Finally, the work proposes an extensive list of metrics as the means to help in measuring these critical success factors.

Mitigating customers’ negative responses to physical presence reduction

Building on the social exchange theory and presumption of a firm's multi-channel strategy as a customer relationship management initiative, three experimental studies show that: (1) reducing physical presence negatively affects customers’ perceived relationship investment and trust and increases their switching intention; (2) to mitigate these negative effects, firms should engage in strategic decisions that benefit customers and are perceived as highly strategic. This research offers new insights suggesting that customers’ appraisals of firms’ strategic decisions influence their switching intention through the sequential operations of perceived relationship investment and trust. These findings are consistent for both services and retail contexts, highlighting the importance of firms engaging in strategies that are deemed to be unfavorable in the eyes of their customers to be perceived as highly committed to maintaining relationships with their customers.

ROI for a Customer Relationship Management Initiative at GST

In this return on investment (ROI) for customer relationship management (CRM) case scenario, students must calculate the ROI for analytic CRM enabled by an enterprise data warehouse. The case is based upon a real-life consulting engagement with a major Fortune 100 telecommunications company. In this case the executive management team's strategic objective is to grow the customer base by 5 percent annually by customer acquisition. The internal rate of return calculated from the data given in the case is more than 800 percent for one year, and sensitivity analysis shows this is a robust projection, suggesting it should be funded without question. However, the strategy of the firm is customer acquisition in an environment of high customer churn. As a result of these dynamics, the revenues and net income of the firm are actually decreasing by hundreds of millions of dollars each year. A better solution would realize that the executive team has the incorrect strategic objective. Customer acquisition is the wrong approach in an environment of high customer churn and executives should focus on customer retention and cross-sell and up-sell to high-value customers. The case discussion therefore takes students beyond CRM ROI to focuses on the key strategic concepts of customer relationship management.Students learn how to calculate return on investment (ROI) for analytic customer relationship management (CRM) initiatives. The case also discusses in detail the difference between operational CRM and analytic CRM. The case solution is relatively straightforward with a very good ROI. However, the true learning of the case is for students to understand the strategic context of analytic CRM and to question assumptions in any ROI model.

Teradata Data Mart Consolidation Return on Investment at GST

This case is based on a real-life consulting engagement with a major Fortune 100 telecommunications company. The name of the firm has been disguised for confidentiality reasons. Completing the case teaches students how to develop a cost-containment ROI analysis and develop a business case for a large enterprise technology project. The class discussion focuses on strategies to understand and manage the risks of the project and organizational issues. In addition, the case teaches students good questions to ask when reviewing a complex project business case, and how to present a project for funding approval. This case is the second in a series of three cases designed to teach students ROI analysis for technology projects; the first is “B&K Distributors: Calculating Return on Investment for a Web-Based Customer Portal” and the third is the case “ROI for a Customer Relationship Management Initiative at GST.”The case objective is for students to learn how to compute a return on investment (ROI) analysis for a large cost-containment technology project. Students learn the best practice of computing the range of possible outcomes (the best, worst, and expected case), and how to present the results to senior management. In addition, students learn how to incorporate important management issues of personnel reduction and technology project risk into an ROI analysis.

Managing customer life cycle through knowledge management capability: a contextual role of information technology

Knowledge management (KM) capability has been influential in explaining customer relationship management (CRM) performance. However, how it affects every customer's touch points is beyond the current literature. In this research, customer life cycle management (CLCM) is employed to examine the interrelationships of KM and CRM performance. By focusing on CLCM as part of a broad CRM initiative, this research aims to explore KM capabilities that affect CLCM and relate them with overall CRM performance. With the moderating role of information technology (IT), results show that every KM capability variable has a different effect on each phase of CLCM, and hence on customer satisfaction and loyalty. This study offers insights for managers in their efforts to further improve their CRM through looking at CLCM.

Exploring the role of knowledge management practices in fostering customer relationship management as a catalyst of marketing innovation

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to propose a research model exploring the link between knowledge management processes and customer relationship management (CRM) performance. It seeks to answer two research questions: What are the effective drivers of knowledge management processes in the context of a CRM initiative? Do these processes make a real impact on CRM performance?Design/methodology/approach– The paper is based on data obtained from a sample of 93 service companies located in Spain. The authors conducted a structural equation modeling analysis using PLS to test the proposed hypotheses.Findings– It was observed that both technological and organizational readiness were effective drivers of knowledge management. However, it was contrasted also that the usage of social media tools was not significantly related to knowledge management. Results show a real impact of knowledge management processes on CRM performance, so companies can understand how to implement successfully those initiatives.Research limitations/implications– The main limitations of the study are that it was based on cross-sectional data and that variables were measured based on the perceptions of general managers.Practical implications– Service companies need to invest in technological infrastructures, and create an appropriate organizational climate (top management support, employees commitment) in order to promote effective knowledge management processes, that will enable CRM success, paving the way for the development of marketing innovations.Originality/value– This is the first empirical work that examines in confirmatory way what are the main drivers of knowledge management processes, including in the analysis the impact of both organizational and technological readiness, and considering also the usage of social media tools, in the context of a CRM initiative.

The impact of Involvement in CRM Initiative on Inter-functional Integration and Organizational Performance: Evidence from Pakistani Enterprises

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is IT based system that manage customer long term relationship, and also inter-function relationship within the organization with the ultimate purpose of creating customer value by sharing concise, sufficient, accurate, reliable, and timely valuable information has greatly enhanced inter-functional integration (IFI) and organizational performance (OP). The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship among three constructs: 1) Involvement (IN) of marketing and IT departments in CRM initiative, 2) IFI, and 3) OP, and presents conceptual model based on this relationship in which involvement in CRM initiative can affect OP either directly or indirectly through IFI. Data collected based on online survey from 30 large companies in Pakistan are analyzed in accordance with research objectives by using correlation, descriptive statistics, simple linear regression and other statistical tools of SPSS. Research findings suggest that involvement in planning, implementation, and usage of CRM system has positive but no significant immediate effect on OP and instead that it improves OP via indirect significant and potential positive effect on IFI highlight the importance for management to endorse IFI and consider involvement of stakeholders in CRM initiative as enabler.

CRM Customer Value based on Constrained Sequential Pattern Mining

role of data mining has become increasingly important for an organization that has large databases of information on customers. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are implemented to identify the most profitable customers and manage the relationship of company with them. Intelligent data mining tools and techniques are used as backbone to the whole CRM initiative taken by the companies. Data mining tools search the data warehouse maintained by the companies and predict the hidden patterns and present them in form of a model. Strategic decisions about the customers can be taken based on the outcomes of these models. The data mining researchers have presented various mining algorithms to extract patterns in data for successful CRM approach. These approaches are however facing several problems like they are not business-focused and often results in enormous size of data after applying mining approaches. They have no relevant mechanism to provide guidance for focusing on specific category of customers for business profitability. In this article, the requirements of sequential pattern mining process for CRM environment is described, and then a novel constraint guided model for knowledge discovery process is proposed. We have suggested even how the selection of appropriate constraints can be made from the perspective of customer value analysis.

An Integrated Model for Customer Relationship Management: An Analysis and Empirical Study

Ensuring customer satisfaction and maintaining long-term relationships with customers have become essential for survival among competitive service industries. The present study addresses this need by proposing a conceptually integrated four-phase model that incorporates elements of customer relationship management (CRM) and customer satisfaction (represented by the extended American Customer Satisfaction Index model). Then, this study formulates structural equation modeling to test various research hypotheses related to the effect of the CRM initiative. An empirical study of 143 leading Taiwanese service firms distributed among seven service industries was conducted. The implementation levels of various constructs, input (customer knowledge), service provision (customer interactions), output quality, perceived quality, perceived value, perception of customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, purchasing intention, and profits of CRM are assessed in a range of service industries by means of a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews. The results of the empirical study reveal statistically significant influences among various constructs of the CRM integrated model. These results also represent a useful reference for managers of service organizations that could be used to improve the profitability and implementation level of CRM. The present study represents an important investigation in the development of an integrated CRM implementation system for service industries. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Success Framework to Investigate Critical Factors Associated with Implementation of Customer Relationship Management

This paper suggests a novel success framework for customer relationship management (CRM) based on a conceptual implementation model to identify associated critical factors and their contribution to overall success/failure. Fuzzy analytic network process (FANP) is applied to identify the relative importance of each factor in successful implementation of each stage and the CRM initiative as a unified process. The results illustrate that CRM goals, change management, customer knowledge management, and top management support are the most critical factors for successful implementation of CRM projects within Iranian business contexts. The proposed success framework provides valuable insight into the CRM implementation process and its critical success factors (CSFs). It can be applied as a practical assessment tool that provides a pre-evaluation of the overall success of the CRM implementation project and identifies areas of weakness that negatively affect successful implementation of each stage of CRM initiative.

Imperative relationship between data quality and performance of data-mining tools for CRM

Pre-dominance of competition and technology has introduced the new dimension of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). The companies are compiling databases on individual customers and data-mining algorithms are applied on this data to get better insight of customers. Most of the times the customer data is not collected for the purpose of data mining and organisational databases are pervaded with the poor quality of data, which may lead to the failure of the whole CRM initiative taken by the organisation. This paper explores the relationship between data quality and data mining for successful CRM implementations.

Virtual Customer Environments: Testing a Model of Voluntary Participation in Value Co‐creation Activities

An increasing number of firms are hosting virtual customer environments (VCEs) to involve their customers in product development and product support activities. While the benefits to companies from hosting such VCEs are clear, another closely related issue has received far less attention: Why do customers participate voluntarily in value cocreation (here, product support) activities in such virtual customer environments? This study seeks to answer this question by developing and testing a conceptual model that draws on the uses and gratifications approach to consider an integrated set of four benefits that customers gain from their interactions in VCEs. The research model also incorporates the interaction‐based antecedents of these customer benefits. Drawing on concepts and insights from the areas of computer‐mediated communication and brand communities, the key characteristics of customers' interactions in the VCE are identified and related to the aforementioned four types of benefits. The study hypotheses are tested using data collected from customer participants of the VCEs of two firms, Microsoft and IBM. The dependent variable, customers' actual participation in the VCE, is operationalized as a time‐lagged variable, and the data for this are sourced from the Netscan database. Results offer strong support for the model and indicate that customers' participation in product support activities in a VCE is motivated not just by their “citizenship” or norm‐related behavior but stems primarily from their beliefs concerning the benefits of engaging in such activities. Results also show the impact of key interaction characteristics of VCEs on such perceived benefits and imply the need for firms to carefully design their VCEs to enhance customers' perceptions regarding potential benefits. The research model and the findings hold important implications for research and practice in customer coinnovation and product development. The model provides the basis for identifying the appropriate set of VCE design features. Companies can test the efficacy of their VCE design features by focusing on how such features augment the four types of benefits discussed and thereby ensure continued customer participation. The study findings also hold broader implications for practice in the customer relationship management area, particularly with regard to the potential to combine customers' VCE interactions with appropriate offline product‐related activities and to view the VCE as an integral element of the firm's overall customer relationship management initiative.

Employees' affective commitment to change

PurposeAlthough organizational change is inevitable with customer relationship management (CRM) implementation, very little is known about how this change affect employees, and how their actions in turn influence the success of CRM projects. The purpose of this study is to address this void in the current CRM literature.Design/methodology/approachUsing an exploratory approach, 13 in‐depth interviews were conducted with bank managers and staff of three banks to provide preliminary support for the conceptual framework.FindingsThe three banks approached their CRM projects with very different results. Two banks achieved less success from their CRM implementation as a result of too little focus being placed on managing CRM‐induced change and people. Only one bank focused a large part of its CRM budget on change management and the organizational factors critical to the implementation. Results demonstrate a possible correlation between employees' commitment to the CRM initiative and the positive outcomes of a bank's performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper lays down the foundation for more thorough studies on employees' affective commitment to change in the CRM context. Empirical research will be needed to verify the conceptual model presented.Practical implicationsThe importance of identifying and securing employees' affective commitment to CRM‐induced change to ensure the successful roll out of a CRM implementation is highlighted.Originality/valueInitial evidence is gained of the importance of employee commitment to CRM induced change for successful CRM implementation. A total of six organizational drivers are identified which assist in gaining employee commitment to CRM induced change.

Customer relationship management in the contract pharmaceutical industry: an exploratory study for measuring success

Managing customer relationships is a very important issue in business-to-business markets. This research investigates the growing number of available resources defining Customer Relationship Management (CRM) efforts, and how they are being applied within the Contract Pharmaceutical Manufacturing industry. Exploratory study results using face-to-face and telephone questionnaires based on four criteria for rating a company's CRM efforts are presented. Data was collected from large Contract Pharmaceutical Manufacturing companies in the US market. The results and conclusions are discussed relating how the Contract Pharmaceutical Manufacturing industry is implementing CRM including some potential steps to take when considering a CRM initiative.

Who’s on First? Stakeholder Differences in Customer Relationship Management and the Elusive Notion of “Shared Understanding”

After first demonstrating that definitions of customer relationship management (CRM) vary widely, we build upon stakeholder and network theories and argue that there are two fundamental categories of participants in any CRM initiative: (1) “core” stakeholders (i.e., the firm selling its products or services as well as its customers), and (2) various “noncore” stakeholders (e.g., CRM consultants). We then develop a process-based framework and related propositions capturing the various stakeholders involved in a CRM initiative as well as several important mediating and moderating relationships yet to receive attention in the literature. Next, we highlight the specific frame of reference and inherent biases of each type of CRM stakeholder, with particular emphasis on how each attempts to sell its offerings, services, or wares. At the core of our framework is a little-commented-upon mediating construct that we label “Shared Understanding of CRM.” The paper next offers an additional, and perhaps more pragmatic, framework for managers to garner a better understanding of which specific stakeholders are at work in any given CRM initiative, which type of customers might be involved, and which outcome variables or metrics might be salient. The paper’s conclusion offers insights into how the elusive goal of shared understanding of CRM might best be achieved.